Editor:
The short-sighted B.C./shíshálh Nation co-management dock plan (CDP) for Pender Harbour does not have the support of local residents because it is not comprehensive. Nor does it have access to funding for the integrated technical information needed for environmental protection.
An official community plan (OCP) committee of 15 local residents including shíshálh Nation Chief Calvin Craigan, along with the help of professional SCRD planning staff, is now conducting an Area A review. A separate dock plan, which superficially and arbitrarily zones Pender Harbour, does not make sense, especially one that hamstrings the OCP committee by ignoring detailed mapping, technical studies and current use.
Marine and lake use have been historically connected to shoreline infrastructure and integrated with recreational values and the economic base. Environmental protection of Pender Harbour and its complex system of lakes must connect drinking water, marine transportation and roads as a single planning unit.
Public support for an official community plan locked into an inflexible provincial-Sechelt Band dock scheme will be difficult. Restrictive CDP zoning is just a superficial fragment unrelated to overall local planning needs.
Pender Harbour is the commercial centre of a valuable regional resource and preserving the working harbour is critical. Striking a balance between public and private use for economic development and environmental protection includes shoreline access for summer residents, transient tourism and local residents. Providing drinking water, medical and emergency services, and waste management require an integrated SCRD voice in any dock plan.
For example: dealing with yacht club outstations; pump out facilities; launch sites, anchorages and vessel sizes; an industrial park site for dry-land storage of boats; live-aboards and house boats; speed and pollution issues; derelict vessels; group docks for upland residents; ramps and boat houses; shoreline visual impacts; park protection.
Joe Harrison, Garden Bay
